Quiz: Howstuffworks

Can You Identify These Texas Animals?

Gavin Thagard

Image: Tom Brakefield / Photodisc / Getty Images

About This Quiz

For those who have been to Texas, they know the state has a beautiful environment filled with animals that are both common around the United States and other animals that are specific to Texas. How well do you know all of the animals that live throughout the state of Texas? Here's a quiz where you can find out.

Nicknamed "The Lone Star State," Texas is the 2nd largest U.S. state in terms of both area and population. The massive size of the state, over 250,000 square miles, provides plenty of land for a diverse ecosystem to foster. This ecosystem is filled with a plethora of animals, from reptiles to mammals to fish and birds.

Are you ready to challenge yourself with a quiz on all of those animals that live across Texas? If we give you an image, are you going to be able to identify what it is? From common animals like the opossum to rarer animals like the ocelot, there is plenty in this quiz to keep you interested in the diverse landscape of Texas.

When you're ready to challenge yourself, get started with this animals quiz and see if you could make it as a zoologist in Texas!

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One of only seven cat species to inhabit Texas, do you know the name of this large cat?

Mountain lion

Bobcat

Jaguarundi

Ocelot

There are few animals throughout Texas with the impressive tree-climbing speed of the bobcat. These cats climb trees, such as the Texas ash and the southern live oak, for a safety escape, as well as for access to sources of food like squirrels and birds.

Feng Wei Photography/Moment/Getty Images

Can you identify this member of the deer family that roams the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas?

Mule deer

White-tailed deer

Elk

Pronghorn

If you're peeking over a ranch fence in West Texas, you might find a male elk, recognized by their large antlers. These antlers, which weigh upward of 40 pounds, are shed each year, usually in the winter or spring, then grown back over the summer.

Adria Photography / Moment / Getty Images

This ground-dwelling bird is found throughout the grasslands and deserts of Texas. Do you know what it's called?

Eastern screech-owl

Elf owl

Burrowing owl

Mexican spotted owl

Burrowing owls take over the homes of other animals across Texas such as prairie dogs and squirrels. These owls will surround their stolen burrow in cattle feces to attract insects for food.

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You wouldn't want to go swimming in the Sabine River of East Texas with this reptile. What is it?

American alligator

Northern earless lizard

Texas horned lizard

Green sea turtle

Growing to nearly 11 feet and weighing around 1,000 pounds, the American alligator can be found throughout the eastern half of Texas, where there are hundreds of rivers and swamps. These massive reptiles particularly enjoy the areas along the Gulf Coastal Plains.

GeorgePeters/E+/Getty Images

Do you recognize this fish found in low current rivers and lakes like Falcon Reservoir?

Flathead catfish

Blue catfish

Bullhead catfish

Channel catfish

Channel catfish are best identified by their forked tail fin, which is unique to only them and the blue catfish. These fish are a popular catch for anglers in Texas, where it's not uncommon to land one over the 30-pound mark.

Michael Cummings / Moment / Getty Images

Now a rare sight in the brushlands of West Texas, this fierce predator goes by what name?

Red wolf

Coyote

Swift fox

Gray wolf

The gray wolf is the largest living member of the canine family found in Texas. These large dogs prefer to hunt in packs, where they use sounds such as their howl to communicate with one another.

Peter Burnage/Moment/Getty Images

A member of the Mustelidae family recognized by the white stripe across its head, do you know this Texas native?

Long-tailed weasel

River otter

Black-footed ferret

Badger

Sporting short legs and a wide body, badgers are forced to waddle as they walk. Luckily, their legs are great for digging in the prairies of Texas, as they use their front claws to break ground while their back feet kick it away.

Kryssia Campos/Moment/Getty Images

Can you identify this species of dolphin located off the Texas coast?

Bottlenose dolphin

Atlantic spotted dolphin

Striped dolphin

Rough-toothed dolphin

The Texas coast is home to 26 species of whales and dolphins, but the bottlenose dolphin is the most common. These dolphins enjoy the tropical waters that make up the Gulf of Mexico.

Pat Gaines / Moment / Getty Images

Preferring the well-drained grasslands of West Texas, what do you call this small mammal?

Gray fox

Swift fox

Red wolf

Red fox

These small foxes can be recognized on the far side of a Texas field by their pale, yellow fur and the black spot located on their tail. However, if you are trying to locate one, swift foxes live in dens, which they rarely venture away from.

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Texas is home to this famous raptor. What's its name?

Ferruginous hawk

Bald eagle

American peregrine falcon

Red-shouldered hawk

Bald eagles are raptors with powerful talons that they use to capture prey like fish and small rodents. They will also search out and eat other birds that they run into when food is scarce. Lucky for them, bald eagles find plenty to eat along the coastal counties of Texas, where they live throughout the year.

Rex Lisman / Moment Open / Getty Images

Do you recognize this deadly reptile that all Texans should be cautious of?

Western cottonmouth

Concho water snake

Bullsnake

Timber rattlesnake

Cottonmouths get their name from the white skin inside their mouths, which they open when they are being threatened. Though it's rare, a bite from one of these deadly reptiles can kill a human, especially if you're hiking the coastal marshes of East Texas and medical care is far away.

Texas Parks and Wildlife / YouTube

You shouldn't run if you come across this animal near the Chisos Mountains. What is it called?

Louisiana black bear

Mexican black bear

New Mexico black bear

Eastern black bear

Though it's considered critically endangered, the Mexican black bear can be found in Big Bend National Park in West Texas. These bears prefer scattered mountain ranges, where they live in desert scrub and woodland habitats.

Jouko van der Kruijssen / Moment / Getty Images

Can you recall the name of this semiaquatic mammal that finds a home in rivers on the eastern half of Texas?

River otter

Black-footed ferret

Long-tailed weasel

American mink

An excellent swimmer, the river otter can spend quite a bit of time under water before coming up for air. These animals have long, slender bodies and webbed feet, which help them maneuver through the waterways of Texas that lead into the Gulf Coast.

Picture by Tambako the Jaguar / Moment / Getty Images

Joggers fear running across this deadly predator in the Texas Hill Country. Do you know what it's called?

Margay

Jaguarundi

Ocelot

Mountain lion

The solitary mountain lion lives in a vast range all across North and South America. These large cats are rarest east of the Mississippi River, where habitat loss has been the most common, but they still find solitude in the Hill Country of Central and West Texas.

Wiki Commons by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Found throughout Texas during the summer when it's warm, what bird is this?

Black-billed cuckoo

Dark-billed cuckoo

Yellow-billed cuckoo

Mangrove cuckoo

Yellow-billed cuckoos tend to mate throughout the summer, with females laying between two to four eggs at a time. To nurse the eggs, these parasitic birds will steal the nest of another bird, which usually occurs in the thickets and willow groves across Texas.

Elizabeth W. Kearley / Moment / Getty Images

Do you recognize this raptor that belongs to the skies of East Texas?

Swainson's hawk

Red-shouldered hawk

Ferruginous hawk

Roadside hawk

Hunting during the day, red-shouldered hawks prefer to look for prey by perching on trees in the hardwood forests of Texas. These birds have excellent eyesight characterized by their binocular vision, which gives them a stronger sense of depth perception.

What do you call this snakelike fish that migrates away from freshwater sources in Texas to the ocean each year?

Striped bass

American eel

White bass

Black drum

The American eel has a very strange reproduction cycle where males leave freshwater streams across Texas to go to the Sargasso Sea. These eels then spawn there before dying, leaving their larva to the currents of the ocean, which carries them back to the Texas coast.

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This is one reptile you probably won't find around a lake in Texas. Do you know what it is?

Texas tortoise

Western painted turtle

Texas map turtle

Eastern box turtle

Unlike most turtles, the eastern box turtle prefers to live in brush and shrubby grasslands along the edge of forests across Texas. Its orange and yellow coloring helps the turtle camouflage itself from predators like hawks and coyotes.

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Can you identify this Texas native, known for its ability to adapt to most environments across the state?

Red fox

Red wolf

Coyote

Gray fox

A member of the canine family, coyotes are quite intelligent, which is why they are known for being "wily." These animals have adapted to the growing population that causes human encroachment across Texas by feeding on domesticated animals and human waste.

Yana Bukharova/Moment/Getty Images

This Carnivora mammal will make a home in the attic of your Texas ranch house if you aren't careful. What is it?

Common raccoon

Long-tailed weasel

American mink

Ringtail

When discussing the family dynamic of raccoons, males are called boars, and females are referred to as sows. When the adults have offspring, which usually begins in January as the Texas spring approaches, those newborns are called kits.

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Acknowledged as the tallest bird in Texas, what do you call this animal?

Sandhill crane

Tundra swan

Whooping crane

Trumpeter swan

Whooping cranes stand around five feet tall and have an incredible wingspan of around seven and a half feet. These massive birds migrate to Texas from Canada during the winter months.

Wiki Commons by USFWS Mountain-Prairie

Once a common occupant of the shortgrass prairies in the Panhandle Plains, do you recognize this nocturnal hunter that nearly went extinct?

Black-footed ferret

Long-tailed weasel

American mink

Striped skunk

Black-footed ferrets have a unique reliance on prairie dogs, which provide them with both food and shelter. The ferret population in Texas, however, has suffered a devastating blow in the past century from farmers killing off prairie dogs, as they are harmful to crops.

Fins Paws and Claws / YouTube

A lover of the warm Texas sun, what cold-blooded reptile is this?

Green sea turtle

Ornate box turtle

Desert box turtle

Yellow mud turtle

Aside from its protective shell, the yellow mud turtle defends itself from Texas predators like raccoons by emitting a foul odor. This strong smell is let loose through musk glands that are located on both sides of its body.

Jeff R Clow/Moment/Getty Images

This Texas ungulate located in the western half of the state goes by what name?

Mule deer

Plains bison

White-tailed deer

Pronghorn

Constantly running from predators like coyotes and bobcats, pronghorns have exceptional speed that helps them elude their potential captors across the prairies of Big Bend Country. In fact, these animals can reach speeds of over 50 miles per hour.

Michael Nolan / Getty Images

What's the name of this expert rock climber that lives along the Rio Grande?

Striped skunk

Ringtail

White-nosed coati

American mink

Recognized by their long, striped tails, the ringtail is a nocturnal animal that lives in rock crevices and inside hollowed trees throughout most of Texas. These animals have a diverse diet that includes various plants and meat across the state, from mice to crickets to berries.

For the most part, Mexican ground squirrels live solitary lives by digging burrows in grassy fields across South Texas. However, they do sometimes live in a colony system with individual burrows dug out for each squirrel.

lightasafeather / E+ / Getty Images

Can you identify this fish located in the streams of the Guadalupe Mountains?

Rainbow trout

Red shiner

Freshwater drum

Lane snapper

The McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains is the only place in Texas where rainbow trout have a self-sustaining population. In most of the state, the temperatures are too high during the summer for the fish to reproduce.

Wiki Commons by http://www.birdphotos.com

An official state mammal of Texas, do you know the name of this animal?

Virginia opossum

Nine-banded armadillo

Desert pocket gopher

Gulf Coast kangaroo rat

Though there are around 20 species of armadillo, only the nine-banded armadillo is located in Texas. These members of the Dasypodidae family get their name from a Spanish word meaning "little armored one."

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Weighing between 20 to 40 pounds, can you name this native animal of South Texas?

Feral cat

Jaguarundi

Jaguar

Ocelot

Due to its spotted coat, the ocelot is a cat that blends in well with its preferred environment of thick brush and thorn bushes in several counties that make up the Rio Grande Plains across South Texas. Nocturnal hunters, these cats tear their food apart with their claws then swallow it whole.

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Located throughout the entire state of Texas, can you recall the name of this animal?

American hog-nosed skunk

Spotted skunk

Striped skunk

Hooded skunk

Striped skunks are not the largest mammals, but that doesn't stop them from eating meat since they are omnivores. Their favorite food is insects, which will draw them to a corn or wheat farm in Texas where they can be pests for farmers.

edit:Jeremy Woodhouse / Photodisc / Getty Images

A threatened species in Texas, do you recognize this reptile?

Texas spiny lizard

Sagebrush lizard

Eastern earless lizard

Texas horned lizard

Of the three rare species of horned lizard living in Texas, the Texas horned lizard is the one most commonly found throughout the state. These lizards are often mistaken for frogs because of their flat bodies.

Jim Cumming / Moment / Getty Images

One of the cockiest animals in the Texas sky, what's the name of this bird?

Blue jay

Pinyon jay

Woodhouse's scrub-jay

Steller's jay

Noisy animals that live year-round on the eastern side of Texas, blue jays have an intimidating call that closely resembles that of a hawk. They use this call to scare off other adult birds so they can feed on the eggs in those birds' nests.

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Can you identify this aquatic predator that inhabits rivers and lakes across The Lone Star State?

Largemouth bass

Spotted bass

Smallmouth bass

Guadalupe bass

If you're a fisherman in Texas, you won't find a more popular game fish in the state than the largemouth bass. These aggressive fish will start hunting prey when they are as small as two inches.

Tom Brakefield / Stockbyte / Getty Images

What do you call this endangered species of cat that's a rare sight in South Texas?

Jaguar

Jaguarundi

Feral cat

Margay

Reaching only about three feet in length, the jaguarundi is only slightly larger than your typical house cat, which it is often mistaken for. The jaguarundi is not domesticated, however, preferring to live in the Rio Grande Valley, where there are only rare sightings.

Thomas Janisch / Moment Open / Getty Images

This long-eared mammal located on the open prairies throughout the western half of Texas is called what?

Desert cottontail

Eastern cottontail

Black-tailed jackrabbit

Swamp rabbit

Preferring open spaces like the deserts found outside Odessa, the black-tailed jackrabbit relies on its alertness and speed to escape predators like mountain lions and hawks. They also tend to prefer for the Texas sun to set before they go out to feed under the cover of darkness.

Shutterstock

Do you know the name of this venomous snake that lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas?

Southern copperhead

Timber rattlesnake

Louisiana pine snake

Bullsnake

Reaching around four feet in length, the timber rattlesnake is the second largest venomous snake in Texas. Like most other poisonous snakes, the timber rattlesnake has a wide head with a narrow neck.

Zen Rial / Moment / Getty Images

What do you call this horned mammal found in Big Bend Country?

Mule deer

Plains bison

White-tailed deer

Mountain sheep

Mountain sheep were once completely wiped out from the mountain ranges of West Texas. However, they were reintroduced in recent years to their original homeland, though they still are confined to protected areas.

Elizabeth W. Kearley / Moment / Getty Images

You'll find this animal in shades of colors from brown to green across the Prairies and Lakes region of North Texas. What is it?

Southern leopard frog

Green tree frog

Houston toad

Bronze frog

Southern leopard frogs will live in any environment where they can find both cover and moisture, which is why they enjoy the lakes in North Texas. In fact, moisture is so important for southern leopard frogs that it determines when they breed throughout the year.

Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography / Moment / Getty Images

Known for hollowing out nests in dead elm and oak trees from Hill Country to the Piney Woods, can you identify this animal?

Chimney swift

Downy woodpecker

Inca dove

Northern cardinal

Found throughout the eastern two-thirds of Texas, downy woodpeckers tend to live in places throughout the state that humans also occupy. These birds particularly enjoy woodlands and parks.

Thomas J Peterson/Photographer's Choice RF/Getty Images

Do you recognize this marsupial, the only one located in Texas?

Plains pocket gopher

American mink

Virginia opossum

White-nosed coati

The Virginia opossum has a long, scaly tail that it uses to hang from trees across Texas like black cherries and southern live oaks. Females can often be seen with their young, who will finish nurturing inside their mother's pouch after they are born.

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